UWS Gets Flower Flashed With Huge Garbage Can Bouquet
By Joy Bergmann
A huge floral bouquet magically appeared early Thursday morning, plunked into a trash can on the southwest corner of 73rd Street and West End Avenue, delighting passersby who wondered: What? Who?
The display was the latest “Flower Flash” created by Lewis Miller Design, a floral design firm in NoMad. According to his web site, Miller has been committing these random acts of beauty [and viral marketing] around the city since October 2016.
In a May interview with Haute Living, Miller described part of his motivation: To get people to look up from their phones and enjoy flowers.
“Tech constantly runs our life, and flowers are ephemeral. They’re fleeting, and they’re natural, and they’re soft, and they’re beautiful, and they’re luxurious,” Miller said. “Our schedules are all so crazy, and technology is just driving us all bonkers, and we’re living on the edge of all having nervous breakdowns. Flowers are a comfort. They’re beautiful. Anywhere we can bring that back to counterbalance the realities of modern living is a good thing.”
Ephemeral, indeed.
By 9:15am, Department of Sanitation workers were on the scene and the flowers were headed for destruction.
“Why? Why can’t you leave it for 24 hours? It’s beautiful!” pleaded Ruth Cohen, who lives on that corner.
A Sanitation supervisor explained that with the bouquet in place, “People can’t throw garbage in there.”
Locals scrambled to grab a few blooms before they landed in the garbage truck’s maw.
“Here we have a beautiful indication of life that could last 24 hours,” Cohen told West Side Rag, “and the Department of Sanitation destroys it.”
It was nice while it lasted.
““Tech constantly runs our life, and flowers are ephemeral. They’re fleeting, and they’re natural, and they’re soft, and they’re beautiful, and they’re luxurious,” Miller said. “Our schedules are all so crazy, and technology is just driving us all bonkers, and we’re living on the edge of all having nervous breakdowns. Flowers are a comfort. They’re beautiful. Anywhere we can bring that back to counterbalance the realities of modern living is a good thing.”
Insightful!
and Healthy
Beyond annoying. Attractive trash made for Instagram pics. I threw out garbage in top of it while photo obsessed, Lululemon adorned women gawked. What does it say about us when garbage flowers grab our attention and force us to immediately reach for the pocket Gods and take photos? I’m sure the Internet T Research Agency took note.
Yes, how dare women wear Lululemon in public and take photos of beautiful and spontaneous art? Much more noble to throw trash right on top of it and then mock the clothing of strangers.
Glad sanitation made that trash can available for the neighborhood grouch. Jeez.
Wow, you’re a real gem! :{
Smart thinking on behalf of our sanitation department
If it was filled with trash it would take a week to empty
What they should’ve done is wrap the trash can and gift wrapping with a notation: sanitation do not touch this is “Art”!
This reminds me of something very similar that Joshua Bell did in the New York City subways back 10 years ago. Showing/playing the culture of his music to the Subway people not knowing who he was… of course.
His installation on the W. 72nd Street subway entrance lasted all day. It was a beautiful autumn display. Live and learn, I suppose.
The flower installations are wonderful. The use of the made up neighborhood “NoMad” – not so much.
In other words, you can get the Dept of Sanitation to respond to a call of an errant bouquet in less time than it takes the NYPD to respond to reports of a robbery.
I now rank (!) Fire, (2) Sanitation, (3) Buildings, (4) Transportation…(103) Police.
Seriously? I’m guessing passersby would have happily held onto their trash for another few steps or another block to enjoy the beauty of those flowers!
what a waste — they could have figured out what time the trucks come by and done it after that time so it could be there all day
I expect that the NCOs called it in. More results for the Monthly Community Council Meeting.
The flowers are beautiful, but did he stencil the sidewalk with black spray paint?? is the sidewalk left with a mark?
for these to appear in the trash; somebody did somebody wrong!
These “installations” are advertisements, nothing more.
That is an absolute crime that sanitation couldn’t wait a damn day! Those flowers cost money and they were put there as art. Damn it. Sometimes I think people aren’t being stupid; they’re being thoughtless and mean.
Garbage cans are always ugly and very much so near Gray Papaya…these flowers are welcomed sight by me!
Dumb, dummer, dumbest: Doesn’t the Dept of Sanitation know that the flowers will leave people smiling — and they’ll probably hold their trash for the next can.